Along with John Roy, 19, a graduate of Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School, they all are now freshmen at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay. They came to the expo to promoting their college.

Mariah Allen said she’d been instructed to focus on recruiting female candidates for the maritime-related state college.

“Whenever we see a girl walk by we talk to her about opportunities and future job placement,” she said.

Allen said more than 90 percent of academy graduates find immediate employment.

Jobs and careers, she said, can range from positions at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, to performing hazardous waste control at toy manufacturer Hasbro, and working as an environmental safety officer aboard a cruise ship.

Allen said the student body at the maritime academy is now less than 12 percent female. She said the school’s immediate goal is to reach 20 percent.

Page 2 of 2 - State Rep. Paul Schmid, who represents the 8th Bristol District, and Rep. Steven Howitt, of the 4th Bristol District, attended the expo. Both said they had historical connections to farming and agriculture.

Schmid said he and his family own farm land, including cattle farms, in Westport.

Howitt said the Seekonk vegetable farm his father once owned is still functioning, and noted that he has an agreement with Mello’s Farm in Rehoboth, allowing him to plant some crops there.

Jim Casey, 51, and Kristen Yngve, 36, said they came to the expo to spread the word about the Southeastern Massachusetts Chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club, which describes itself as the country’s oldest nonprofit conservation and recreation organization.

“A lot of people don’t realize we offer kayaking, biking and hiking,” said Casey, who described himself as a Class II hike leader.

He and Yngve said there’s a general misconception that their organization only offers outdoor activities outside of New England. The Appalachian National Scenic Trail extends 2,200 miles from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine.

They said they managed to attract a number of people Saturday by offering a raffle for a free membership.

Keith Boivin of Rehoboth said he brought his daughters, Julia, 9, and Jenna 12, mainly for them to “see the animals.”

He also ended up buying a Primula Danova flower arrangement for his wife.

“When I talk to students, what resonates is that not one of them regrets coming here,” Boivin, 47, said. “They must be doing something right.”

Superintendant Dempsey said 400 boys and girls last year applied to be one of 400 freshmen at Bristol Aggie, which has a student body of 450.

Among private wild animal exhibits at Saturday’s expo were those of Taunton’s Marla Isaac and her New England Reptile & Raptor Exhibits, which included a regal looking barn owl; Kurt Schatz of Braintree, who displayed an eastern milk snake, a baby musk turtle and wood frog tadpoles; and representatives from the Massachusetts Cage Bird Association featuring a hawk headed parrot, an umbrella cockatoo and a playful Caique parrot all too eager to bite the finger of anyone foolish enough to bring it too close.

Other exhibitors included the Massachusetts Farm Bureau, the state’s division of fisheries and wildlife, and the New England Herpetological Society.